Pleased to report that sniffles have improved with ACV and garlic. Also initial olive oil, much massaging and live yoghurt and what could have been a nasty case of sour crop has been averted Lily's crop was empty this morning

Interesting update re the seller. I never heard from him after I told him I was having Pob PTS. However, being a little nosey, I looked on his website the other day and it appears that although the hybrids and egg sales were the mainstay of his business, due to various reasons he will no longer sell them and will concentrate on pure breeds and bantams.

Maybe I was one in a line of customers with sick birds?

Pobs all ok. They seem to sneeze more in cold weather. We get the odd bit of upset tum occasionally but all doing well.

I went out last night to give them some corn and to lock up, but it was still quite light and I intended to go back out and shut the pop hole and take in the water and food.

I forgot.

I also woke quite late this morning and was stunned to find them poodling about the run. They seemed to tell me off as the water had all but run out and they needed some pellets topping up. But they were also very cold feeling. Their combs and wattles were cold, but not blue.

They got an extra treat of a little mixed corn this morning as I felt so bad. They seemed to warm up a bit and carried on as normal.

I discovered last week that my automatic pop hole had different settings for each day and the blooming door has been coming down at 4.30pm even though I'd changed the main setting to 5.15pm so last week on the night when we had freezing cold weather and snow, the girls had been locked out now the nights are getting lighter. They were fine, they all just snuggle up together. I'm sure they appreciated getting back into heir coop that night though.

The main thing is to make sure they have a safe run so that if it happens again (we all forget things from time to time, or auto door openers fail) they won't be in any danger.

I am still working with mad Spaniel. He was playing find and fetch with tasty treats today but he kept going off to the pen and running back and forth barking. Pobs not worried about him. He just wants to play but the relentless barking gets on my nerves at the moment. We fell out

However I tried something radical. I got so frustrated I picked him up and took him in the Walk-in-Run with me. Sat him on the coop roof whilst holding him and just observed. He was rather transfixed but the Pobs came up and sat near him on the roof. He coped quite well but he still ran round the outside of the Walk-in-Run afterwards barking but it had improved. This is the first proper day I have been able to let him run free in the garden for a good length of time, so although it wasn't great he wasn't too bad. Please note I will NEVER let him run around with them free ranging or Let him run in the Walk-in-Run.

The chickens excite him so much he needs to be so desensitised in various ways. On the plus side he has slept since 4pm only waking to go for a wee twice, eat his dinner and come up to bed.

I have a behaviourist from my course coming in a few weeks to give me an "outsiders eye" with mad Spaniel. It's like anything, sometimes you need a fresh set of eyes to see something which you are missing.

Today is a milestone of sorts. I shall be picking up my third bale of Aubiose since getting Pobs and only my second 20kg bag of pellets. One bag lasted 13 weeks and they have not gone short! It has cost just 90p per week and I am using Marriages, would be less if I used a cheaper brand.

Spaniel can now run around the garden with a training lead on. Although the lead is on, he has full freedom of the garden. He has to sniff out treats which I scatter feed around the garden and this keeps him occupied for ages. During this time he totally ignores the girls.

Today we also are starting on him sitting in his bed in the garden in a down/stay whilst I am walking over to the run. He stays.

The problem comes when I have run out of treats and then he will sometimes just gently visit the Pobs and at others races over and starts barking and scrabbling at the wire. That is where the training line comes in - pull him away and remove him from the stimulus.

This new regime has only been in place for a week so to be fair he is improving greatly. Can't seem to find a way to stop him barking and howling the house down when I go out to clean the Pobs though.

Pobs seem to have settled very well. Winnie is still Miss Chattery and loves her cuddles. Lily is getting quite friendly too and is more comfortable with being cuddled. Pixie is now also showing signs of being a tad settled when I pick her up. I refer to Pixie as 'Queen of the Greens' as she will devour any greens she can.

I am not sure of my flock dynamic really. Winnie jumps on everyone to get food but Pixie does tell her off for doing so. Lily and Winnie seem to be partners in crime, but Lily will spend time with Pixie too. There is no real fighting, though I suspect Winnie pushes her luck at times. They work as a team with the treat ball.

All a bit odd as Winnie was the bottom of the pecking order when Autumn was alive, and Pixie and Autumn seemed joint top. Now Winnie and Lily leap out of the coop together, almost knocking each other over and Pixie wanders out behind.

Great to have a Pob update! And your spaniel sounds like he's coming on really well - what's his name?

Don't feel sorry for Pixie, I'm sure they are all absolutely fine. 3 is an odd number and it's tempting to think that one's on their own - in my case, it's Tigger - but they usually knock about as a bunch most of the time and seem happy enough and I'm sure your Pobs are the same. Maybe Pixie just wants a bit of peace and quiet every now and then! Mine don't work as a team at all with the treat ball though - it's very definitely Casper's property, so you're lucky to have such a co-operative lot

Things have moved along quite smoothly til about 10-12 days ago. Winnie, the Columbine, stopped laying and was very subdued and huddled over. Left her for a couple of days and decided to give her a sitz bath after 4 days. She was sitting on the run floor for hours at a time. Out came a 2.5" long piece of what looked like cooked egg white the next day:

So off to the vets we went with what appeared to bed an egg bound hen. He gave her an internal exam and said he could feel a softy. He gave her a Calcium injection and said the softy should appear within 24-48hrs.

It never did, or at least not that I saw.

I gave her further sitz baths and hoped I didn't wake to find a dead Winnie.